Family Road Trip

It’s always interesting to take a trip with the family. This weekend we helped my daughter Michelle move from her apartment in San Diego to our place in Bakersfield. It was quick. Left Friday morning. Back home Saturday evening. My older son Brian joined us. He drove the rental car because he gets queasy in the back seat. I’m not too much of a back seat person either so I was also in the front. David and Matt rode in the back. The traffic was typical for southern California and even though it was Memorial weekend, it wasn’t unbearable.

We’d been listening to Talk Radio keeping up with the traffic updates when we realized the car came with On-Star and XM satellite radio. Brian “talked” to the pleasant GPS-type voice as it walked him through pairing his phone with the Bluetooth. At one point he was trying to dial my daughter’s number which wasn’t working too well. He told it to ‘go fly a kite’ or some similar statement in which the polite voice dialed a European country. Listening to Brian interact with the Bluetooth was more entertaining than talk-radio and that kept us entertained for quite a few miles.

Although the collective goal was to help my daughter, after the trip I needed serious beach time. We ended up at Ocean Beach. Now isn’t that a clever name? I thoroughly enjoyed wading in the surf, feeling the pull of the ocean as it receded, leaving my feet sunk in sandy holes. We watched various surfers ride the waves and kids in wetsuits dive into the oncoming tide. Next to us was the dog beach. Dogs of all shapes and sizes barked and romped playing in the surf, chasing sticks and digging in the soft sand. Truly heaven-on-earth for those dogs.

For the last night in San Diego Michelle wanted to eat at Phil’s BBQ. Supposedly one of the best places in town and the line around the building proved it. We stood, and waited, and stood some more. Forty-five minutes later we reached the sign stating it would be another fifteen minutes before we reached the counter to order. With the half-dozen plus menus posted on our route, there was no reason for wondering what one wanted to order. Our group chose everything from a tri-tip sandwich with plenty of sauce to pork ribs to chicken with sauce on the side.

The baked beans were wonderful and the onion rings were fabulous. Now I see why no one complained about the hour-plus wait in line.

The next day, Saturday, was moving day. Fortunately Michelle was ready and almost everything was packed. Unfortunately, she lived upstairs which always makes for an interesting time for all. At one point, Brian removed a window screen and many unbreakable items were tossed to someone below. With the five of us and one of her friends, the U-Haul was packed in a few hours. Her car secured onto the tow-dolly pulled by the U-Haul, our two-car caravan headed towards home. Since they could only travel at 55, it took a bit longer, but we still made it back in time to unload at the storage facility before it closed at 7 pm.

Just before we got home we passed a horrific roll-over accident. I felt thankful we made it home safely. Nothing broken, nothing lost just a few aching muscles and the need for a good night’s sleep. It’s good to be home again.

Nothing like passing a nasty accident to remind us of our good fortune. So glad your trip turned out well with everyone home safe. And, you know, this is the 3rd blog I've read today about the beach…I seriously have to go walk on some sand! I'm not sure why but I LOVED the line with the “sandy holes.” 🙂